Chapter Five - "Celebration"
A celebration was brewing at Castle Brightmoon. Two weeks now after the battle of the Fright Zone, the first major party of Etheria was being held. People from all walks of life had attended. Representatives from distant lands sat in fellowship with some they once called their enemies.
King Randor, Queen Marlena, Prince Adam, and Princess Adora all sat under a large tree near the main entrance of the Castle. Nearby, in the courtyard of Castle Brightmoon, dancers from Dyl were entertaining a rather large crowd.
"I've been putting a lot of thought into it and I think, for the time being, I need to stay here," Adora told them.
Randor glanced between his wife and children, then leaned forward. "Why is that, my dear?"
"Etheria has been my home all my life, father. I just feel as though I can't leave yet, that I still have so much more work to do here. These people . . . they need me here."
Marlena put her hand on her daughters. "I understand, Adora, but you'll be back to visit us more often?"
"Of course, mother. Now that the Horde has been contained, my schedule clears up a little more."
Adam smiled. "I bet it does. I think that what you are doing is for the best."
"I'm glad you agree, bro," Adora replied. "By the way, where's Kathryn?"
"At home. She has a bit of a cold."
"Ah."
"Actually, speaking of Kathryn, there was something I wanted to talk to you all about . . ."
Flutterina, Peek-A-Blue, Perfuma, and Castaspella hit the bar, which was set up at a small pavilion on the other side of the courtyard. After receiving their drinks, they down and watched the party unfold around them.
Castaspella waved at Ariel, Norwyn and Arden as they crossed nearby. "Hard to believe it's all over. Hard to believe that darkness collapsed."
Flutterina smiled and sipped her drink. It was her first one ever. "I find it harder to believe that we all made it out alive. I've never seen fighting that intense. But we did it. We actually did it."
"I think the question now is what do we do in the aftermath?" asked Peek-A-Blue. "Sure, the Horde is defeated, but what happens now?"
Perfuma shrugged. "I'm sure we'll find out soon enough. Every day is a new beginning, isn't it? The future will be blossoming out before us soon, I'm sure."
Adora was feeling great. The news Adam broke to she and her parents mere moments ago lifted her spirits from where they were after the whole mess with SeaHawk. Adora walked along the corridors of the Brightmoon Castle to try and find Glimmer and Bow. However, who it was that stepped in front of her surprised her.
"SeaHawk!"
"Adora, I need to talk to you."
Adora suddenly felt very unsure of this. She scanned the corridor, then pulled SeaHawk into a small sitting room. She shut the door behind her and the two sat down across from each other near the window.
"So. Talk."
"I'm sorry," he blurted. "I'm so sorry. I'm an ass. I really am. I don't know why . . . I don't why I stood there and questioned you and yelled at you and said all those nasty things. I'm so sorry."
Adora nodded. "I . . . forgive you, Hawk. I'm sorry too. Maybe I should have told you sooner. But there was so much happening, so much going on around me. Around . . . us."
"Yeah. Adora . . . all those things I said to you when you were She-Ra . . . all those things that have happened since then. I meant them all. I love you, Adora. More than any other woman, more than I ever thought possible. I love you."
Adora closed her eyes and smiled. When she opened them up, they were budding with tears and a warm smile crossed her face. "I love you, too," she replied. "I've loved you since the day I met you. That's why I told you."
He took her hand into his. "I know. I assumed as much."
The two moved forward and fireworks began to pop and explode outside. SeaHawk and Adora then leaned in and kissed deeply and warmly.
Mermista looked over at Frosta and then scooted over her cup. "Mind?"
"Course not," Frosta replied, plopping some ice cubes into the green drink.
Not far away, Sorrowful, the Manchines, and the Twiggets were running around, setting off more and more fireworks. The multi-colored explosions caused "ooo'' and "ahhh"'s from the crowd of many kingdoms. Sweet-Bee, Spinnerella and Netossa soon joined Mermista and Frosta.
"So, two queens sitting here. Do you think you can spare some of that new power to give us some guest quarters?" Spinnerella asked.
"Not unless you can breathe underwater."
"Or if you want to go out of your way to be very cold."
Netossa glanced over at the nearby bar and then looked back to her friends. "We're getting checked out."
"By who?"
The group all took subtle looks at the men at the bar. Roboto, Ram-Man, Sy-Klone, Meckaneck, and Man-E-Faces all gave them various nods and winks. The girls laughed it up.
"Let's just ignore 'em."
"Better watch out. They may just try and hit on us," Mermista said.
"Oh I don't know. One of them is a robot," Sweet-Bee added.
Spinnerella shrugged. "Doesn't matter. He was probably programmed by a man."
As if on cue, the group started walking over. Frosta smirked and slicked up the ground under the Heroic Warriors feet. They all went tumbling down. An explosion of laughter came barreling from their table.
As the fireworks began to die out, Cringer came out from underneath a table. He was about to track down Adam, but another's scent caught his nose first. Cringer padded along through the grass until he reached Spirit.
"You did a good job against the Horde, Spirit," Cringer told him.
"We all did. But, Cringer, you know as well as I do that we are not done with this conflict."
Cringer sighed. "I know. I was hoping we were done. I was also hoping you wouldn't say that."
Spirit laughed, which sounds strangely human. "You can only cage wild animal for so long. And the Horde is the wildest of them all . . ."
"Should we tell them? Should we tell them what we've been told?"
Spirit neighed. "No. Let them celebrate tonight."
"How are your skills coming, Bow?" asked Micah.
"Much better, your majesty. It's been hard to adjust to the loss of depth perception, but I've been getting better and better," Bow replied.
"Some day, he may just be better at than he was before," Glimmer said with a smile and a squeeze of Bow's hand.
"With all the practice, it certainly wouldn't surprise me," Kowl added.
Queen Angella walked up from the table and just happened to catch She-Ra and SeaHawk walking out of the Castle together.
"She-Ra, good. It's about time for you to say a few words."
"Okay."
She-Ra turned to SeaHawk and gave him a look that told him to make sure not to give her a good luck kiss. SeaHawk smiled affectionately, then went down to take his place. Queen Angella was busy gathering up the large crowd to listen to She-Ra's speech.
As She-Ra took the time to figure out what it is she wanted say, a movement flickered in the corner of her eye. She spun around and faced a small figure that recognized at once as Loo-Kee.
"You've been watching me the whole time, haven't you?"
"Of course, She-Ra."
"You've always done such a good job of hiding yourself. Tell me, Loo-Kee, why do you watch us?"
Loo-Kee smiled. "We are the writers of history. And She-Ra, I have to tell you, I'm your biggest fan in the world."
She-Ra grinned broadly and then walked forward. The crowd roared and shouted when she became visible to them.
"PEOPLE OF ETHERIA! WE ARE FREE!" The crowd rose up in applause. She-Ra smiled broadly, blond hair dancing in the moonlight. "We are free from tyranny and oppression, from darkness and hatred! The Horde has fallen! The enemy has been defeated!"
Once more, the sound of the crowd rose high. No one noticed Cringer and Spirit exchange uneasy glances.
"And now, my friends, we face the future! We face the unknown!" She looked over and saw the Great Rebellion sitting together, sharing a smile. She then looked over to the leaders of Etheria, all looking excited and expectant. "We must face this together! We must stand united as we embrace our destiny! We must stand tall in the light of freedom and strength and meet whatever lies in the future head-on with both liberty and valor!"